U.S. Attorneys Under the Microscope

Alabama's Leura Canary and Mississippi's Dunn Lampton, who led the respective prosecutions of Don Siegelman and Paul Minor, are among the U.S. attorneys being investigated by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility.

The report comes today from Larisa Alexandrovna, managing editor for investigative news at Raw Story.

The nature of the investigation of Canary and her office is unclear. But Alexandrovna reports that Lampton is alleged to have shared confidential income-tax returns of a prosecution target with unauthorized individuals.

Misuse of private tax information could prompt a criminal investigation, Alexandrovna reports, and that would be led by the Office of Inspector General.

Raw Story also adds to the mountain of evidence indicating wrongdoing in the Siegelman prosecution. Alexandrovna reports that she uncovered evidence that former Bush White House strategist Karl Rove conducted meetings in Washington, D.C., with campaign operatives for current Alabama Governor Bob Riley.

Riley, of course, defeated Siegelman in a close and controversial 2002 election, with vote totals mysteriously being changed in Baldwin County, Alabama, turning an apparent Siegelman victory into a win for Riley. Rove has publicly denied involvement in that campaign.